Entering the World of Video Game Design and Development

  • Added:
    Apr 17, 2014
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    1542
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Entering the World of Video Game Design and Development Photo by Pamela Wendell

The popularity of video games is constantly increasing. The industry is already a multi-billion dollar field. It appears that the increasing demand for more games with better visuals, themes and stories will take it places in the coming years. The video game players expect more every time and nothing seems to satisfy their endless demand for entertainment, fun and adventure.

Not only does the industry focus on video games players' entertainment needs but it also offers diverse career opportunities to game developers of software professionals. The industry gives them numerous chances to satisfy their creative sides, while making a decent living. It is no wonder why so many high school students want to be on the scripting side of the video games.

Creating video games is both fun and money-spinning. However, it's not as simple as you think. It requires creativity and imagination, idea generation, and technical skills to build high quality gaming software. While you should be able to think differently, you also need to build strong software engineering fundamentals. How to Build a Career in Game Design

Step # 1 - Obtaining Formal Qualification

Students interested in building careers in the field of game design should consider enrolling in a college diploma or university degree in interactive game software development after secondary education. The game design course combines classroom learning, project-based learning, software development projects and an industry field placement.

The program emphasizes on various software design methodologies, programming languages, operating systems, database concepts, network technologies, 3-D graphics programming and user-oriented interface designing. Additionally, you also study

  • Functions and number systems
  • Discrete mathematics
  • Advanced business communications
  • Linear algebra and statistics
  • Advanced graphics
  • IT project management

The prospective game designers are also expected to have a thorough understanding of the Canadian workplace environment.

To enrol in a software engineering course, you will need:

  • Secondary school diploma or equivalent
  • English Grade 12 C or University or equivalent
  • Mathematics Grade 11 M or 12 C or University or equivalent

Step # 2 – Industrial Training

Having theoretical knowledge in software engineering fundamentals and game designing and simulation is not sufficient to build a career in game development. You need to accumulate relevant practical hands-on-experience.

Good colleges in Canada offer game design course with co-op component that allows you to enhance your education by working in real-world settings through industry field training. Centennial College's three-year, post-secondary software engineering technology - interactive gaming (co-op) program offers you the opportunity to put your classroom learning into practice by allowing you to work three terms as paid employees in the field. Additionally, the program is accredited by CIPS (The Canadian Information processing Society) and CCTT (The Canadian Council of Technician and Technologies) and CTAB (The Canadian Technology Accreditation Board).

Step # 3 – Industry Placement

Typically graduates have to start their careers right from the scratch. This helps them gain in-depth understanding of the technical, creative and business aspects of video gaming industry. Students graduating from good colleges are immediately hired by top employers either during their industry field placement or upon course completion.

They are prepared to work as software developers, game programmers, software testers, computer programmers, system analysts, business analysts, web application developers, database administrators, and application or software support. Further studies and relevant experience help professionals move towards career advancements.

Author's Profile

The author here highlights the post-secondary game design program that prepare the students to take up a career in the rapidly growing and dynamic game industry.


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